Nikolas Sargeant
Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has seized 500 Bitcoin worth more than $35 million from one of 12 crypto wallets tied to convicted drug dealer Clifton Collins, wallets long believed to be permanently inaccessible after their access codes vanished years ago.
The CAB announced Tuesday it had gained access to the wallet with technical support from Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, which provided decryption resources and expertise described as vital to the operation. A wallet labeled "Clifton Collins: Lost Keys" on blockchain intelligence platform Arkham transferred the 500 Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime on Tuesday, more than a decade after the coins were first deposited. Arkham lists Collins as controlling 14 addresses with total holdings of approximately 5,500 Bitcoin, valued at over $391 million.
Collins was sentenced to five years in prison for growing and selling cannabis following his arrest in 2017. Police say he used drug proceeds to purchase 6,000 Bitcoin across 12 wallets in late 2011 and early 2012. He stored the wallet keys on a single sheet of A4 paper, hidden inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case at his rental property.
After his arrest, his landlord cleared the property and discarded his belongings. Collins claimed the fishing rod case had been stolen before the landlord ever entered the home. Either way, the keys were gone, until now.
The breakthrough is notable given that cracking Bitcoin wallets is considered effectively impossible in most circumstances, with lost private keys generally rendering funds permanently inaccessible due to the underlying cryptography. The CAB and An Garda Síochána had not responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment at the time of publication.
